Supporting arts and science communities on-line

This paper examines the use of the Web to support continuing professional development (CPD). It outlines the factors driving the adoption of CPD and highlights areas where the Web can aid in the development of successful professional communities. A survey examining the use of the Internet to support professionals working in the domains of the Arts and Science is presented. The study reviews twenty four sites for the presence and degree of adoption of several key features including: - community building, range and value of content, user friendliness and guidance, sophistication of employed Web technology

Online learning : towards enabling choice

Education is rapidly evolving from an opportunity that was provided mainly for an elite to one that is available to a mass markets and as such is prone to the forces generated by this environment. Where, in the established pattern, commercial interest was limited mainly to the use of skills developed during the educational process, the future model of educational provision will involve extensive commercial activity in the production, delivery and marketing of material. Already there are a number of commercial companies offering framework products enabling "off the shelf solutions" for the construction and delivery of web based courses in any subject area. The commercialisation of education is underway and it is inevitable that it will be viewed, by entrepreneurs and customers alike, as any other commercial product. It would seem reasonable that the consumer should be able to evaluate the performance of these new modes of working in a similar manner to other commercial products. This paper draws together current thinking on the problems associated with evaluating computer and communication based learning

Analysis of the wind tunnel test of a tilt rotor power force model

Two series of wind tunnel tests were made to determine performance, stability and control, and rotor wake interaction on the airframe, using a one-tenth scale powered force model of a tilt rotor aircraft. Testing covered hover (IGE/OCE), helicopter, conversion, and airplane flight configurations. Forces and moments were recorded for the model from predetermined trim attitudes. Control positions were adjusted to trim flight (one-g lift, pitching moment and drag zero) within the uncorrected test data balance accuracy. Pitch and yaw sweeps were made about the trim attitudes with the control held at the trimmed settings to determine the static stability characteristics. Tail on, tail off, rotors on, and rotors off configurations were testes to determine the rotor wake effects on the empennage. Results are presented and discussed

Theoretical calculations and instrument development and test characterization of low intensity X-ray imaging devices

The characteristics of the Lixiscope when excited by X-rays produced by conventional electrically powered X-ray generators are explored to determine the optimum X-ray spectrum and mode of operation of the generator, which yields satisfactory Lixiscope images of medical and industrial specimens

Notes on a Door Lock

n/

Measurements of Surface Diffusivity and Coarsening During Pulsed Laser Deposition

Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) of homoepitaxial SrTiO3 was studied with in-situ x-ray specular reflectivity and surface diffuse x-ray scattering. Unlike prior reflectivity-based studies, these measurements access both the time- and the length-scales of the evolution of the surface morphology during growth. In particular, we show that this technique allows direct measurements of the diffusivity for both inter- and intra-layer transport. Our results explicitly limit the possible role of island break-up, demonstrate the key roles played by nucleation and coarsening in PLD, and place an upper bound on the Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barrier for downhill diffusion

On the accretion origin of a vast extended stellar disk around the Andromeda galaxy

We present the discovery of an inhomogenous, low-surface brightness, extended disk-like structure around the Andromeda galaxy (M31) based on a large kinematic survey of more than 2800 stars with the Keck/DEIMOS spectrograph. The stellar structure spans radii from 15 kpc out to ~40 kpc, with detections out to R ~ 70 kpc. The constituent stars lag the expected velocity of circular orbits in the plane of the M31 disk by ~40 kms and have a velocity dispersion of ~30 kms. The color range on the upper RGB shows a large spread indicative of a population with a significant range of metallicity. The mean metallicity of the population, measured from Ca II equivalent widths, is [Fe/H] = -0.9 +/- 0.2. The morphology of the structure is irregular at large radii, and shows a wealth of substructures which must be transitory in nature, and are almost certainly tidal debris. The presence of these substructures indicates that the global entity was formed by accretion. This extended disk follows smoothly on from the central parts of M31 disk with an exponential density law of scale-length of 5.1 +/- 0.1 kpc, similar to that of the bright inner disk. The population possesses similar kinematic and abundance properties over the entire region where it is detected in the survey. We estimate that the structure accounts for approximately 10% of the total luminosity of the M31 disk, and given the huge scale, contains ~30% of the total disk angular momentum. This finding indicates that at least some galactic stellar disks are vastly larger than previously thought and are formed, at least in their outer regions, primarily by accretion. [abridged]Comment: 20 pages, 30 figures, ApJ submitte

Perinatal and infant mental health and wellbeing

This chapter considers factors influencing parental and infant mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. Perinatal depression and anxiety is a significant health problem affecting not only mothers but also their infants, other children, partners, extended families and communities generally. The significance of infant attachment in the perinatal period (from conception to the end of the first year after the baby is born) and the importance of culture and ways of working with families in this sensitive life stage are described. Perinatal mental health is about the emotional wellbeing of pregnant women and their infants, partners and families during this time. This chapter discusses the risk and protective factors that impact on parental mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. It refers to processes of assessment and the issues related to culturally appropriate prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of perinatal depression and anxiety; and its potential impact on the infant, other children, parents, family and community. The key policies that impact on perinatal mental health and relevant preventative programs are briefly described